Isolation
by Chibi Zephyr
Summary: Based on LEAKED audio for Steven Universe Future (audio is from a now released episode called Fragments). The gems just want to help Steven and to try and understand his outbursts, but Steven isn't letting them. His own problems aren't something he wants to solve. What will happen? Corrupt Steven Theory
1. Chapter One: The Leaked File

_**Author's note: ALL of the dialogue in this (with the exception of the first two spoken lines) is from a LEAKED AUDIO tape of Steven Universe Future. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS IS A POTENTIAL SPOILER!**_

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"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Rage coursed through his veins; hot and bubbling over until he couldn't contain the heat anymore.

The rage inside him burst outward and exploded the road under the van. The sickening crunch of metal met his ears and his dad's scream brought him back to his senses. The van careened off the road and flipped. Steven acted quickly; he reached over and grabbed his dad, who was in the driver's seat and put a bubble around them. They landed in a huff, their seat belts keeping them in place and the bubble keeping the shattered glass from injuring them. The van was bent, crushed by the power of a single yell caused by his new destructive power.

Steven quickly popped his own bubble, undid his seat belt and ran out of the van. Tears of shame burned his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. His dad only wanted to talk about what was bothering him. Pestering him until Steven couldn't take it anymore. And he still couldn't take it.

"Steven!" Greg cried from inside as the Crystal gems could only state, their hands over their mouths.

Steven took a step back, eyes wide as he stared at the damage. Then, he bolted. Back up to his house, just needing a moment to himself. His dad was only trying to get him to talk, but he didn't understand. He couldn't understand what Steven was feeling. He never had before. All of this gem stuff, it just hurt his dad. It caused him to collapse, have nervous breakdowns and nearly lose his life to Bluebird.

No, his dad wasn't the answer. Steven could handle it alone.

He burst through the front door, aware the gems were hot on his tail. He turned, forcing himself to face them instead of climbing the stairs to his room.

"You crashed the van with Greg inside?!" Pearl exclaimed in disbelief. "You know who fragile he is. These pink outbursts of yours are getting out of hand!"

Steven whirled on her. "It's not an outburst!" he roared, his entire body heating up again as the pink overtook him once more. She didn't understand either. These emotions, they were all him. Things he felt. Things he couldn't control if they kept pushing him. They wouldn't understand. He just needed to be alone. He just needed to breathe.

"See! This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Pearl retorted, her hands going out. "What's happening to you?"

Steven took a shaky breath, but nothing could cool the anger that burned inside him. What was happening to him? He was growing up. He wasn't the same happy kid they wanted him to be. He thought they understood that, but he was wrong.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, but he winced at how broken the word sounded. "It's nothing," he said, much calmer. The pink didn't leave his skin and his blood didn't stop thundering in his ears. He needed to be alone. He needed to calm down. This wasn't helping. He turned to walk up the stairs, but Pearl called him again.

"Steven! Where are you going? We're not through - AH!"

A pink wall burst from nothingness in front of her. It blocked the stairs and separated the gems and Steven. He just looked through them, eyes slightly wide at the sudden display of power.

"Steven, drop this wall!" Pearl commanded, her finger pointed at the ground to show she meant business.

"Pearl, I'm sorry, I'm trying!" Steven said frantically, but nothing he did made the wall fall. Last time this happened, there was a resolution with his friends. He felt comfortable and safe. He felt okay. But now? Everything was wrong. His heart hammered against his ribs and his breathing was shallow. He didn't want to worry them. He didn't want to hurt them. But he didn't want the wall to vanish either.

"I just...need," Steven said, hands going into his hair as he clearly struggled with himself. "Some space," he finished after a pause. "Okay? I'll be in my room." He tried to leave again, but the voices called him back.

"Not so fast, my dude," Amethyst said, her voice more urgent than Steven had ever heard it. "You gotta tell us what's going on."

Garnet spoke up before Steven could. "It looks like Steven's trying to avoid a serious discussion about this altogether."

His eyes snapped to the fusion as his breath hitched in his throat.

"No, I'm not!" he shouted. At his words, cracks burst forth under his feet. The wood in his staircase splinted and the painting of him and gems on the wall behind him shook and threatened to fall.

"Steven!" Garnet said, stepping forward and putting a hand on the pink wall. "You have got to calm down and talk to us."

Amethyst nodded, her face concerned. "Just chill man," she pleaded.

Steven looked at them. He didn't want to talk. He just needed…

His breath hitched in his throat again as he looked at the damage around him. The worried faces of the gems, his shattered stairwell, to the memory of his dad yelling as Steven crushed the van with him inside. His vision went blurry with tears he refused to let fall as an icy hand strangled his heart.

His hands contorted into fists against his will as he closed his eyes for a moment to try and force down these suffocating feelings of rage and shame. But the panic held onto him tightly. A pained gasp escaped from his lips as his hands gripped his head tighter. The vision behind his eyelids seemed to flash pink as he tried to force it down, but it didn't want to be contained anymore.

"We need to do something about this before someone gets hurt," Pearl said, her voice starting strong and cracking at the end as she watched the boy she love struggle with himself.

Steven fell to his knees, unable to stand as he fought to subdue the pink aura. But it lashed back harder. The black behind his eyes was completely pink now. The hand around his heart was squeezing, making breathing near impossible. He drew in gasped breaths, pained noises escaping his lips once more.

His head was splitting. His entire body was trembling and he didn't know if it was sweat or tears rolling down his face.

"Don't let this power control you," Garnet told him. "You're better than this."

Was he though? Was he better? Everything he did since he brought peace to the galaxy was one failure after the next. He couldn't help Jasper. He couldn't help gems pick jobs they wanted to get used to life on earth. He couldn't run Little Home-School. He couldn't say goodbye to his friends without nearly killing them. He couldn't even raise a healthy garden without that backfiring on him.

The panic grew until it muddled his thoughts. He could feel himself falling into a dark pit of despair, but nothing helped. He wasn't the boy he once was. He wasn't the savior of the galaxy anymore. He was just a failure. Doomed to hurt his friends who didn't need him anymore.

He needed to get away.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Steven roared at them. The entire house shook and Steven bolted to his room, not even noticing how the roof caved in and blocked the stairwell behind him. He didn't see the dust racing behind him as he closed the blinds to his room, locked the sliding door and vaulted himself into his bed. He didn't see how his own pink aura lit the room in a vivid hue.

He only knew this despair and darkness. He only knew that he was nothing compared to what he used to be. He was a failure. He was a disappointment.

And he was alone.

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_**Author's note: I had to quickly write this immediately after I heard the leak on Twitter (leaked on Jan. 12, 2020, early in the day) and I may turn it into a short series if you all want me to. It sounds like CorruptSteven Theory is real! I am so excited. Are you?**_


	2. Chapter Two: The Song of Corruption

_**Author's note: NOTHING beyond Chapter 1 is a spoiler. It is purely a continuation of the leaks as I perceive it. It's another brain bug I had from the leaked audio. Chapter Two and on is purely fanfiction!**_

_**It sounded like Steven is fighting himself and depression from a loss of identity. AI am drawing from my own experience to write this. It does get dark, but not terribly so. I tried to keep it as in character as I could. **_

_**I fully expect therapy (or something like it) to be the end result for SUF. I don't think it will happen before the problem, though, as I don't think Rebecca and the SUF team will want the fanbase to see therapy as something that didn't help before the problem gets out of hand.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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He didn't mean it. Any of it. He just wanted to feel needed again. To feel like he had a place among the world he helped create. If everything weren't so wrong, he might have laughed at the irony of that; he created a better universe and didn't know how to include himself in it.

Instead, everything was just a mess. A mess he created. One he had no idea how to fix; all he knew was being around them, seeing them succeed and being left behind, wasn't the answer.

Why would they want to talk to someone like you anyway, asked a small sinister voice in the back of his head. They don't have time for you. They won't be able to understand what you're going through. You're not the person they need you to be. How can you help them, when you can't even help yourself?

Steven's breath hitched as he shook his head and drew his knees close to his chest. These thoughts weren't new to him. He had them when he learned his mother "shattered" Pink Diamond. He had them when he turned himself in to Homeworld. He had them when he learned his mother was actually Pink Diamond. He had them when he tried to protect Connie by shutting her out.

But he could ignore them then. He always had another problem to distract himself. But now? He stared as his clenched fists and pulled his knees closer to his chest. Now, he was the problem.

He took a breath and allowed the ringing silence to set into his soul. The pink glow slowly faded from the room, though his skin was still wrought with the color. Downstairs, he knew the gems had given up trying to break his pink wall when he heard the front door slam.

It wasn't long before Steven heard the gems pounding on his glass sliding door and yelling at him.

"Steven, let us in!" Garnet said. "We can help you!"

His eyes snapped to the door. They didn't get it. He wanted to be alone. He needed it. It was helping him to be alone with his thoughts. Talking just hurt. They wouldn't understand. They would just reprimand him for feeling this way, yell at him for losing control, and then move on like it was fixed.

No, they can't help me, he thought. His mind was made up. He sat straight on his bed and grabbed at the sheets.

"Just take deep breaths, dude," Amethyst suggested. Steven could see her hand on the glass through his curtains. "We're here for you."

He shook his head and tears that he didn't feel cascaded down his face. What made them think he was so special? He wasn't worth their time. Not anymore. Sure, he used to be. Their attention, love and training used to bring out the best in him. But recently, it all ended in destruction.

He was tired of them thinking he needed them. Tired of them needing him. Tired of them not understand anything he was going through and not respecting him enough to give him space. Tired of not even understanding it himself.

"Steven, don't ignore us!" Garnet yelled again.

"GO AWAY!" Steven cried.

"Steven!" Pearl said, voice set. "We're coming in whether you like it or not."

"NO!" He was back on his feet and his room shook violently at the yell. Pink light burst from his gem and consumed his body. But it didn't stop there; the room glowed a deep pink in warning.

"Don't let it control you, Steven!" Garnet shouted again. Steven shook his head. Nothing was controlling him. Everything he felt, it was all his choice. His emotions. His power. And he could prove it.

"I said," Steven growled, his nails digging into his palms as he pulled out the heated power gnawing within him. "GO AWAY!" He lifted his hands to the air with strain, as if he was lifting something heavy and a new pink wall burst from the ground. The wall expanded into a dome and covered the entirety of the home. The gems staggered back, weapons now in their hands.

Weapons.

Steven took a step back and his knee buckled when it hit his mattress. He fell back onto the bed, face morphing into disbelief. What had Pearl said earlier? They had to stop this before someone got hurt.

No, not "this." Him. They had to stop him.

He stared at them; Pearl's spear held ready to defend herself, Amethyst's whip pulled back, and Garnet's fist pounding on the diamond wall.

"They…" he whispered. Everything faded from his vision except for the gray silhouette of the spear, the whip, and the gloves.

They were going to fight him. Him. Steven. The boy they helped raise. And why? Because he wanted to be alone. Because he was using his powers in a way they didn't like.

A weight seemed to land on his chest, knocking every inch of breath from his lungs. He couldn't breathe. The room spun and his stomach churned. He barely noticed curling up with his legs to his chest, hands in his hair and head on his knees.

He was the threat. He was the monster they were trying to fight. All because he wasn't talking to them. Because he didn't want to let them in. Because he was finally feeling everything he bottled up.

And they were treating him no different than the corrupted gems they used to fight.

"I'm the monster," he gasped out to no one. His tears soaked his jeans and his fingers pulled out strands of hair, but he barely felt either. All he felt was his heart withering away in the grip of a thorned rose vine.

Steven looked to his hands. They were as pink as his late mother's skin and trembling. He finally looked like the leader they lost and he was worse than she ever was. He could never be her. He could never be the person they now needed. He wasn't good enough for them.

He jumped wildly as a loud bang hit the pink barrier outside. The gems bombarded the wall; each hit sounded like thunder in Steven's ears. His breath sped up as the assault continued. Shallow. Uneven. Until he felt like he was drowning.

He needed it to go away. It was all too much.

"STOP!" he yelled, hands covering his ears as it all became too much. The room around him was warping as his senses became overwhelmed. "Please, stop," he whimpered out. But they didn't.

"Steven, drop the wall," Pearl's voice called, her spear scraping against the wall with a sound that sent chills down Steven's spine.

"Just talk to us!" Amethyst called, her whip now hung loosely in her grip as she watched Garnet and Pearl continue their assault. "Please," she added, her voice now begging.

Inside, Steven lifted his head at her soft "please," but winced horribly when Garnet's hand slammed against the wall once more.

"Enough of this, Steven!" Garnet yelled. She brought her double-handed fits against the wall, but stumbled back as the force went up her arms. "Stop avoiding the situation!"

"I'M NOT!" Steven yelled at them. He didn't remember getting back on his feet. He didn't remember feeling heat spread from his gem and coat the room in a deep pink hue. When he saw the gems take a step back, he snapped back to his senses once again and nearly fell to his knees in shock as the room spun around him. "Please," he said, putting his hand on the glass door. "Just leave me alone."

"Not a chance," Garnet growled on the other side of the door. "Stop acting like this."

Steven's hand dropped from the door and he stood there and stared at her figure. If Garnet could have seen the anguish on Steven's face, she would have dropped her weapons and removed her visor. She would have put her hand to the wall to match Steven's. She would have felt her own eyes burn with shame. She would have understood.

But she didn't see it. On her end, she was trying to order around a stubborn teen with gem powers.

Inside, Steven felt his entire body go numb at her words.

Stop acting like this? He thought as his vision unfocused. Like what? Himself? She didn't like him. She didn't like the person he was becoming. She just liked him he was younger.

They'll never accept him now.

He fell to his knees and his thoughts became muddled into his emotions. He couldn't hear them pounding on the wall anymore. He could only hear the ringing silence and the pounding in his head. Tears streamed down his face like acid, but he didn't move to wipe them away.

They moved on without him. They didn't know him anymore. They didn't want to. They just wanted old Steven back.

The ringing in his ears began to morph. In and out it came, like waves of a song churning in the confused mess of emotions.

"I can't be him," Steven whispered to himself, his head falling as he stared at the carpet he didn't see. "I can't stop being this way."

The ringing grew steady and formed into a wordless hum.

Steven doubled over and let out a pained sob. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to replicate the hug he so desperately needed but didn't deserve. The longer he clung to them, the more pain he would cause them. He needed to push them away. Needed to make them see that he wasn't worth their time anymore. They had more important gems to help than one that deserved to be in a bubble.

More important problems to solve than a boy who lost control of his powers for the upteenth time.

The wordless hum grew louder and finally caught Steven's attention. The words took shape, echoing in and out of his conscious mind. It was soothing. Almost like a lullaby. When his anger lashed out, it coaxed it back with a gentle hum.

His room pulsated pink; the color began to slowly fade from the walls as the glow of his skin lessened.

"STEVEN!" Garnet yelled. "Don't give in!"

The song faded as Steven jumped back to reality at her words.

Give in? He looked around, his heart slowly speeding up with the absence of the song. It was helping him. For all he knew, that song was the answer to this pink aura.

"Come back," Steven whispered to it, but it didn't.

"Talk to us!" Garnet yelled again, frantic this time.

"No," Steven said, loudly enough for the gems to hear. The anger was back. His entire body ached as it coursed hotly through his veins. His head throbbed and his chest felt like it was about to burst.

He needed that song to calm down. To control this. And they took it from him.

"Steven, please, we're worried about you," Amethyst tried again.

He forced himself back to his feet, his stance unsteady but offensive. His entire body trembled, filled with emotions just begging to burst out of him. He couldn't hold them in. He needed that song back. He needed the gems gone.

"Just...LEAVE!" he yelled. With every ounce of strength he had left, he forced his emotions out of his body. He yelled out, replicating the final note of the song and hoping to bring it back. His room splintered apart at the outburst. The glass door shattered and the curtain flew back to reveal the gem's shocked faces.

He watched as the pink wave hit his barrier. Some went straight through and blasted the gems off their feet. They flew off the deck and onto the beach below. Unseen by Steven, their forms vanished and their gems dropped into the sand.

Some reflected back to him. It struck him square in the chest. He stumbled back and fell on his bed, winded. The room spun as he struggled to stay conscious.

"I didn't mean…to hurt...," he panted. He tried to push himself onto all fours, but failed and collapsed.

Then he heard it again. Louder this time. More urgent. Calling to him.

He reached out his hand as his vision began to fade, as if trying to grasp onto the words of the song. The song spiraled around his barely conscious mind and seemed to caress his soul. It was so gentle. So peaceful.

He felt the tension leave his body and it became very hard to keep his eyes open. He hummed to it, the tune coming to him like a long lost memory.

Then it changed. The soothing presence became blinding. Pink light pierced through his mind and he gasped out in pain. He felt it wrap around him and envelop him in its barbed grasp.

"W-wait," he said, panicked as he struggled to fight against something that he couldn't see.

The song shrieked in his ears; wailing harshly in his own voice and echoing the emotions it had consumed. It wrapped around him, constricting his very soul until he couldn't feel anything but the cold pain of everything he wanted to escape from.

It bound him there. Unable to think. Unable to move. Unable to scream in pure agony as its thorns dug into his throat. He felt the burning hatred seep into his face as the song yelled out mournful words he could barely understand.

He reached out his hand, now toward where the gems once were.

"Help," he managed to whisper.

His vision was blurring and fading fast. The last thing he saw was dark pink splotches spreading across his skin. The last thing he felt was his skeleton breaking as it the song snapped his spine.

The last thing he heard was a yell of broken agony, completely unaware that it was his own.

The song enveloped him completely in its thorns and he knew no more.

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_**Author's note: How do you think Steven would become corrupted? I tried a different approach from the usual panic and I think it turned out okay. Let me know what you think!**_


	3. Chapter Three: Beach City Falls

Screams filled the streets and humans scattered and bolted. Some got into their cars as they remembered the plans they created years ago for gem related incidents, while others were just too panicked at the sudden appearance of the pink monolith to think clearly.

It had been a calm day. Everyone was going about their business; Sadie and Shep hung out outside of Fish Stew Pizza as they wrote their next song, Mr. Smiley was relaxing in the sun as the Quartz soldiers ran his amusement park; Nanefua was strolling along the boardwalk with her Roby guards.

It started with a rumble, then cracking noises. No one looked in time to see Steven's home explode open. They only saw a lizard-like monster appeared behind the mountain, so tall that it blocked out the sun. Collectively, their eyes trailed the monster. They counted the spines on its side and stepped back when they saw the iridescent rosy horns on its head and the pair that protruded from its face.

"What is that?!" Kiki asked, nearly dropping Sadie and Shep's pizza.

Nanefua's Ruby's raced in front of the mayor and led her away as quickly as they could. They shouted instructions to everyone at her orders: Gem attack. Evacuate now.

Sadie and Shep looked to each other and then back to the monster. They both knew that shade of pink. Could it be?

"Steven?" Sadie asked, throwing logic to the wind. The boy always had strange powers, maybe this was just one of them. But then the monster's snapped down to the city when someone in the distance screamed and they both jumped at the cruelness reflected in them.

"Maybe not," Shep said as they pulled Sadie out of her seat. "Kiki put it on our tab. We need to go!"

They all began to run as the beast lifted one of its four legs and stepped over to the city. In two bounds, he was able to cross the beach and reach the boardwalk.

"This way!" Sadie yelled. She pulled Shep and Kiki down an alley and they raced behind the Big Donut. The three cowered in its shadow and waited for the beast to take another step past them before they headed up the hill to the lighthouse. "We need to get the Crystal Gems!" Sadie told them. "They'll stop whatever that is!"

They ran around the mountain and were the first to see what Sadie feared as they peered over the edge to see Steven's house. It was completely decimated like something had burst through its roof and crushed the wood under its immense weight. Remnants of Steven's torn jacket caught their attention as it fluttered under a piece of debris.

"Steven!" Kiki called. She ran forward and Shep boosted her and Sadie up. They helped Shep up and all of them ran carefully over to the jacket and started shifting rubble.

"Is...is that?" Kiki pointed to red flecks on Steven's jacket and to small pools on the floor near it.

"Blood," Shep said. "That Steven kid could be in trouble."

"He can heal himself," Sadie reminded the group before they panicked. "Let's keep looking."

They searched as the chaos echoed across the beach. They heard screams of panic and loud crashes as the monster stepped through the city. And they found nothing. No Steven. No Pearl. No Amythyst. No Garnet.

"Steven!" They all jumped as Greg ran over and yelled for his son.

"He's not here!" Sadie told him, waving her arms to alert him. "We can't find the gems either!"

Greg stopped and looked around, something clearly catching his eye. He stepped out of Sadie's view and he heard him say, "Oh boy."

The three jumped down from the debris and landed hard as Greg walked over to them. In his hands were four gems: one pearlescent white, one deep purple, one dark blue, and one blood red.

Sadie and Kiki covered their mouths in shock and Shep looked on, confused.

"That thing must have caught them by surprise," Greg said, his voice uncertain. "They wouldn't have gone down with a fight."

"Where did it even come from?" Kiki asked. "The warp pad?"

Shep and Sadie looked at each other again, but neither had the heart to voice their idea to Steven's father.

Luckily, they didn't have to. Amethyst's gem glowed bright and floated out of Greg's hand. She reformed quickly, nothing changing from her previous style.

"Woah," she said as she landed. "That was unexpected."

"What was?" Greg said. "The monster?!"

Amethyst looked at him like he lost his mind. "What monster? No. One of Steven's outbursts."

She looked around and caught sight of the house.

"STEVEN!" She yelled. She was about to jump up to the wreckage when Kiki put her hand on her arm.

"We checked," she told the gem. "He's not up there."

Amethyst sighed and looked relieved. "Then where is he?"

The ground shook and the deafening sound of an oddly humanoid roar caused them all to clamp their hands over their ears.

"What is THAT?!" Amethyst called with her whip now in her hand.

Sadie sighed and put her hand on Greg's shoulder. "I think that's Steven," she told the group.

Amethyst's mouth dropped open. "WHAT?!" She didn't wait for an answer. She ran out of sight to see the damage for herself. Greg, Sadie, Shep, and Kiki slowly followed. They were not in a hurry to see the cause of the black smoke that billowed into the sky, nor to damage under the thickening dust cloud.

Beach City came into the view and the majority of the boardwalk was decimated. Fish Stew Pizza was burning; the fire quickly jumping to other buildings. The pink monster, Steven, standing on his hind two legs and swatting down at the people below.

"That's not Steven," Amethyst said, her eyes terrified. "Steven's like...small."

"The monster came from his house," Shep pointed out. "He attacked you three. And he's not here."

Amethyst glanced back to the house and leaned back to catch a glimpse of the destruction.

"B-but…," she said, heface falling. "It can't be him."

Greg stepped beside her and placed his free hand on her shoulder. "Look, right now, we need to evacuate the city. We'll figure out the rest later."

It took a moment, but the purple gem nodded. "Right." Her entire body glowed and stretched. A moment later, a helicopter with her face on the front appeared. "Get in," she said.

They all piled into her head and she raced off. They flew low to the ground and all jumped out to direct people where to go.

"Leave the monster to me!" Amethyst shouted to them as she flew off toward it. "Get everyone out of here! And Greg," she called, her eyes on the gems in his hand. "Keep them safe."

Greg nodded, his face set as the gem flew off to meet the beast that terrorized the city.

"HEY UGLY!" Amethyst yelled, her form glowing as she turned back into herself. She launched herself at the monster, whip in hand. It snagged on one of his horns and she used it to pull herself toward its face. She curled up and spun to become a spinning projectile before she smacked right into the monster's cheek.

It roared in annoyance and pain and whipped around, its eyes trained on the small purple gem. As she fell, Amethyst stared into them and gasped out. The face shape. The nose. Pink irises. Diamond-shaped pupils.

It really was him.

She didn't recover from her shock in time for a steady landing. She crashed back into the earth and onto the road. She barely felt the impact though.

How? How is that Steven? How did he get like this? Was it shape shifting?

She stared at the lizard-like beast as it peered down at her, eyes narrowed.

"Very funny, dude," she weakly called up to him. "Just turn back into your normal self and we can talk about it."

The monster growled at her lowly as he raised his hand to crush her.

"Or not," Amethyst said as she jumped away. "We'll leave you alone, just like you asked?" she called hopefully, but the hand slammed into the pavement, narrowly missing her. She watched the long claws dig into the cement and tear up the entire width of the road.

"Watch it!" she shouted to him as she jumped away. But her voice broke and her eyes burned as she stared back at the monster. "Don't you know me?!"

His large hand swept sideways and knocked her through a building window as an answer.

She pulled herself up from out of the rubble. Her entire body shook as she watched the monster turn away and look toward the hoard of retreating humans. Amethyst took a short breath and stood up as she pulled two whips from her gemstone.

Steven or not, she had to keep fighting. He wasn't in control. He didn't know what he was doing. She had to stop him from hurting anyone else.

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" she yelled to the monster, who whipped his head back to look at her. She ran over and slammed her body against his leg. Steven didn't even flinch, but he did whip his tail around to hit the gem.

Amethyst smirked to herself as she jumped up and grabbed onto his tail. She flicked her wrist and one whip wrapped around a spike. Another flick, the second wrapped around another. Steven jerked his tail around wildly, trying to throw her off, but Amethyst locked herself in and slowly became stepping back every time she sensed an opening.

He slammed his tail on the ground and was about to raise it again at full speed.

"Now!" she told herself. She slingshotted her body upward, using the strain on her whips and the momentum from Steven's movement and slammed her feet into the back of his head. The giant body stumbled forward and landed on all fours and crushed a building in the process.

He whipped his head around to face her. A glint she didn't like was in his eyes when another body slammed into forehead and knocked his head away.

"Hey Garnet," Amethyst said. "Thanks for the backup."

Garnet landed next to Amethyst on Steven's back, her face unreadable.

"What happened?" she asked, though her tone revealed she already knew. Amethyst didn't have time to respond before Steven bucked and spun. They were thrown off his back and landed on the ground. Both of them slid to a stop as the monster turned to face them.

Amethyst only watched as Garnet looked into the beast's face.

"Steven…," she breathed, her boxing gloves poofing from her hands the moment she stopped denying the truth.

"Look out!" Amethyst tackled Garnet out of the way, just as Steven's hand swung around to smash them. They rolled out of sight behind a dumpster and heard Steven take a step away from them.

"How?" Garnet asked. "What happened to him?"

Amethyst shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe this is a side effect of his pink outbursts?"

Garnet's eyes traced Steven's form. "It's possible," she said, but she didn't sound convinced. "He's not in control."

"No duh," Amethyst said. "He wasn't exactly in the best shape before either."

Garnet ignored her and stood. "We'll need backup," she said. "Amethyst, you'll find Lion napping in the Big Donut's dumpster. Get him to find Connie. Then go to the warp and alert Little Homeworld. We need to draw him away from the city and toward gems that can fight."

Amethyst nodded. "Okay. Anything else?"

Garnet took a breath before saying the next thing through gritted teeth. "Send a messenger to Homeworld. We may need the Diamonds."

"What?" Amethyst exclaimed. "Why? We got this!"

"Just go!" Garnet told her. Amethyst heard the urgency and panic in her tone and knew not to question the fusion further. She nodded again and raced off. Garnet simply didn't have it in her to tell Amethyst what timeline they were in. Not when Garnet herself could barely hold it together.

There's still a chance we're not in that timeline, she reminded herself. She's been wrong before.

Human screams jarred her back to reality. She reformed her boxes and ran toward Steven. She had to keep it together. She had to help the teen she failed.

"STEVEN!" she yelled. Her voice boomed between the buildings, swirled up in the cloud of smoke and hit the monster's ears. He glanced back at her, face showing nothing but annoyance now. Garnet chucked a piece of rock at him and it bounced harmlessly off his side. Steven huffed and watched it fall to the ground before he turned back to the fusion.

He roared. The sound was so deafening that Garnet had to physically hold herself together as she recognized her family member's voice in the animalistic screech. Though the roar was one of a predator, Garnet heard more. She heard the struggles of the boy the loved. The pain, the guilt, the lack of control.

The corruption.

He turned to face her and his tail knocked down power lines. Garnet heard them sizzle and zap his skin, but Steven didn't even flinch. He didn't even seem to notice how his skin was charred black from the impact. He only had eyes for her.

"You want me?!" Garnet yelled as she slammed her fists together. "Come and get me!"

She ran and tried to head out of the city. She saw Sadie, Shep and Kiki dodged out of the way and hide by the Big Donut as she passed. They moved carefully, their mouths covered as the smoke of the flames concealed them. Garnet zig-zagged between streets and when the ground began to rumble behind her, she knew Steven was on her tail.

His shadow soon overtook her. She dove around a pile of smoking rubble, narrowly missing being crushed by one of his four legs. The fusion ran forward, out of the city, but not far enough away from the humans, when Steven finally caught her.

His hand lunged out and grabbed her. It pinned her to the ground. He lowered his head, his breath hot against her skin as he huffed in her face.

"Steven," Garnet said, voice strained as she pushed against his fingers. But he was too big, too heavy for her to move alone. "Don't do this," she pleaded with her. She removed her visor to stare into his enraged eyes. "You know me."

If Steven understood her, he didn't show it. The monster slowly added weight to hand and began to crush her. He watched her struggle, watched her gasp out in pain and push feebly against his hand. He added more weight and his eyes glinted as his lips curled upwards.

He liked seeing her like this. Struggling. Feeble. Not in control.

"HEY!"

Garnet glanced over and saw two humans tumble out of a moving car right before it slammed into Steven's wrist. He yelled out in pain and lifted his hand out of instinct. The limb turned purple and bleed profusely as the shattered windshield dug into his skin.

Shep grabbed Garnet and pulled her over to Sadie and together, the three ran. Steven took the car in his mouth and tossed it over his shoulder. It landed with a sickening crunch behind him. When he turned to look at the ground, the fusion and humans were gone.

Unseen by the beast, Garnet, Sadie, and Shep caught their breath as much as they could through the smoke and dust. Their lungs burned, but they didn't dare cough. Their hiding spot, behind a burnt tree, wasn't the most concealing.

They watched Steven gingerly put weight back on his hurt wrist and wince, but he was too far gone to let a little pain stop his rampage.

"What do we do?" Sadie quietly asked Garnet.

The fusion shook her head. "We wait for backup."

… … … … … … … … … … … ...

**_Author's Note: Yes, I am continuing the story! Unlike "A Corrupted Identity," I am writing this one as I go, so there may be delays between publishing. I do have a lot of it outlined, though! It's going to be a short-to-medium-length story, probably around 8 chapters. I hope you enjoy! _**


	4. Chapter Four: A Losing Battle

His entire body hurt and the screams pierced his ears like knives. But it felt so good. The pain. The panic. The boiling rage. The song that hummed along in his ears like a high-pitched ring. For once, he didn't need to think. He didn't need to be better. He didn't need to make anything better. He didn't need to be needed. He could just be himself.

It felt so good to feel. To let it all go. To lose control.

He didn't need to bottle it all away. Hiding was a thing of the past. This was who he was now. He didn't care anymore.

At least, that's what he wanted to believe.

The screams beneath him as people scattered pulled at his heartstrings. He didn't know their faces, he didn't know their voices; he didn't know anything about them other than he wanted to care about them. He didn't want them hurt. He didn't want them to be afraid.

And yet...he did.

No, he didn't.

Yes. Yes, he did.

He shook his head as if trying to clear his head from the voice that told him to stand down; to stop that annoying little pang of guilt that kept him from crushing the town beneath his feet. He was so tired of being the one to stop threats. Of being the one that took the punches and the blame.

Of being torn between the person everyone expected him to be and not knowing who he was supposed to be.

The song in his head grew louder as if agreeing with him. It drowned out the voice that held him back and urged him to continue forward. It acted like it knew him. Like it could show him his true self. He was a monster, like his mother before him, who hid under the guise of helping others. And now, he had no mask. No purpose. No one to help.

No reason to repress that side of him.

But the chains of guilt wrapped around his mind again as a voice rang through his head. The voice of the gem he had nearly crushed under his hand. Though she was long gone, he could still hear her. Her words meant nothing to him at the time. But her tone was soft. Scared. Like she knew him. Like he knew her.

The first coherent thought he had hit him like a truck and caused him to freeze where he stood, his eyes fixated on the ground, but unseeing. He nearly killed her.

An ache unlike anything he experienced exploded in his chest, but before he could put a name to it, the ringing in his ears lessened. It morphed into a lullaby and its cold words cooled the burning in his chest. He breathed in sync with it and he felt the ache lessen as all thoughts were brushed away from his mind.

That aching part of him was so tired. He felt it struggle, but it was weak. It knew it couldn't win. He wouldn't be bottle away any longer. He growled lowly to match the tune of the song and felt that annoying part of him succumb.

The moment the chain snapped, he stopped caring about the ones on the ground. They were ants to him. They meant nothing to him. Just as he meant nothing to them.

The monster was free.

… … … … … … … … … …

Garnet left Sadie, Shep, and Kiki to head to the warp pad that was nestled safely in the temple. Pearl was already there and pushing away what debris Amethyst left on it. Pearl had reformed and met the purple gemstone just after she sent Lion off to get Connie.

Pearl nodded to Garnet, her face distraught, but determined.

"The Diamonds should be here any second now," she said before she faced the warp again. "I just hope they help."

Right on cue, the warp burst to life and one after the other, the Diamonds appeared.

"Honestly," White said as she stepped off the warp and glared down at Amethyst. "I don't see why Steven wouldn't just visit us himself instead of sending a messenger."

"Because," Amethyst said, clearly tired of explaining herself. "Steven needs help!"

White tutted, but Garnet was the one who spoke next.

"He's corrupted."

Silence rang out at these two words. White covered her mouth in shock and Blue and Yellow exchanged worried glances.

"He's...what?" Yellow said, her arms crossed. "That's impossible. We didn't attack the planet!"

Garnet shook her head. "It's possible," she told the group. "He did it to himself."

"How?" Pearl asked, but Garnet didn't have an answer.

"So you need us to heal him?" White guessed, her hand falling from her mouth.

"And help us fight him," Garnet said with a nod. "He's still half-human, so we can't poof him."

"But we can subdue him," Pearl added in, her voice shaky. "I just wish we didn't have to."

"We all do," Garnet said. "But we have to be strong right now. For him."

"And we have to protect the humans," Pearl said. "We need to draw him away from the city as much as we can."

The Diamonds nodded and they all stepped around the mountain and gasped in unison.

"Oh, stars," Blue exclaimed. "That's him?"

"Well, he certainly embodied Pink's destructive habits," Yellow said. "Come on, Blue, White, it's been ages since we've had a good fight."

"Don't hurt him!" Garnet yelled. "He's still half-human!"

"Don't worry, we can handle this," White said confidently. "One emotional change from Blue, one hit from me to stop him and then Yellow can destabilize his powers. It will be fine."

They walked off without glancing back at the Crystal Gems, who exchanged unsure glances.

"Youuu whoooo, Steven," White called with a wave. "Throwing a tantrum are we?"

The beast turned, his silhouette nearly concealed by the rising embers and thick smoke as Beach City continued to burn. Garnet knew the Little Homeworld gems weren't too far behind - Lapis and Freckles could handle the fire once they go there.

"You know, your mother used to do the same thing," White continued. "It was never this extreme, but I guess you inherited her dramatic flair."

"White, don't goad him," Blue told her. "He's suffering enough."

White rolled her eyes, but she nodded. "Steven, just come here and let us help you."

The beast took a step closer and the wind picked up. His form was completely hidden now. The Diamonds braced themselves and, as they predicted, Steven pounced. He hit White and toppled her over, but Blue and Yellow were ready.

The city turned a deep shade of blue and the remaining gems all fell to their knees as tears pooled in their eyes. Steven, still on top of White, shook his head and pawed at his eyes before he turned slowly to glare at Blue.

Without warning, his eyes glowed pink and Blue was thrown back by an unseen force. She slammed into the ground and the blue aura faded.

"He still has his powers?!" Pearl exclaimed wildly as they watched the fight unfold.

White used the distraction to ready herself. Her gem glowed and Steven glanced down to it immediately. He leaped away from her and narrowly dodged her attack. He raised his haunches and roared at her, his displeasure at her antics clear.

"Why you little," White growled at the clear insult. "I'm only trying to help!"

Yellow pulled Blue to her feet as Steven dodged another one of White's attacks. Blue tried again. Tears stopped in the corner of Steven's eyes as he growled lowly. His body tensed and his gem emitted a soft glow.

Yellow raised her hand and hit Steven in the back with her powers. The Diamonds watched as it spread through his body, but it did little more than cause the beast to shudder uncomfortably. He turned to face Yellow.

Then White tried again. The bright glow of her eyes gave away her power, but Steven was too hindered by Yellow and Blue to dodge out of the way.

His eyes flashed again and a pink barrier erupted around him. The diamond panels were cracked and fazed in and out of existence as the shield seemed to glitch around him. Yellow and White's attack were both absorbed in the panels they hit for a moment before they burst back out at them. Both were stained pink.

Yellow jumped out of the way and crashed to the ground; her attack slammed into the mountainside and chunks of rock rained down on them.

White was hit squarely in the chest. She was lifted off the ground by the impact and forced onto the beach. She laid there, unmoving.

"White!" Blue called, but the diamond did not stir. They all watched as a pale shade of pink spread over her form. But nothing more happened. She just laid there, frozen.

"What did you do to her?" Yellow demanded as Steven dropped the wall and faced her. "Fix her!"

Steven's eyes flashed again and Yellow was forced back into the crater her powers made. Her back hit the mountain, hard, and she collapsed to her knees.

Blue let out a wild scream and formed a ball of power in her hand before she slammed it against Steven's chest. He stumbled back one step but slammed the side of his head into Blue's. She toppled over but tried again. She waved her arm and light missiles soon rained down upon Steven. He took the impact, barely flinching as they bombarded his skin.

Instead of going down, he slowly stood on his hind legs. At full height, he was taller than Blue.

Yellow got up and brushed boulders off her shoulder. She glanced at the Crystal Gems and pointed to Steven.

"You're welcome to help," she snapped at them before she walked back over to the fight.

The gems looked to each other and took a step forward when Yellow launched herself at Steven and grabbed him in a submissive hold from behind. Steven roared in annoyance, but his tail wrapped around Yellow's knee and pulled forward. The diamond's balance broke and she stumbled forward.

With her arms still around Steven, he whipped around and sent her flying once more. She fell next to Blue, barely landing on her feet.

Behind Steven, Alexandrite rushed forward. She summoned Sardonyx's hammer and slammed it on Steven's tail and held him in the submissive hold once more. Four of her six arms wrapped around Steven's chest and stomach and pinned his arms, while the other two held down his tail with the hammer. Her feet dug into the ground.

Blue wasted no time and sent a direct blast to Steven's now exposed gemstone as Yellow let loose her powers. Alexandrite felt the beast shudder and tremble as Yellow tried to destabilize him and Blue tried to control his emotions. She felt hot tears land on her arms and she barely heard the monster whimper.

Her chest suddenly exploded in pain as she remembered who she was fighting.

"It's okay, Steven," she said to the boy, doing all she could to keep herself together.

The beast growled at her words and, as if he sensed her weakness, made his move. Alexandrite was forced back by a large diamond-shaped pink barrier. Her hammer scraped painfully against Steven's tail and the spikes on it as she was pushed back. As she pushed against the pink barrier and was forced back in the sand, the fusion became aware of the rock particles sticking to her foot.

She glanced down and saw a red streak leading from her heel to Steven's tail.

The beast looked at her, pain and anger in his eyes. Three of the spikes on his tail were splintered and broken. One was pulled out entirely; it laid next to a gaping wound.

"I didn't mean to," Alexandrite whispered before the fusion was undone. Pearl was openly upset, her eyes misting over as she stared at the blood. Garnet and Amethyst looked away from it, but both still summoned their weapons.

"We can't stop," Garnet told her. "We'll heal him once he goes down."

"But," Pearl started.

"Garnet's right, Pearl," Amethyst cut her off. "I don't like hurting him either, but we have to. We have to stop him."

Steven's eyes flashed as the song allowed some of those words to reach the inner depths of Steven's mind. They had to hurt him. They had to stop him.

They _wanted _to.

Just like he wanted them to.

Steven roared loudly and the gems clapped their hands over their ears. His yell this time sounded different. Not a trace of human emotion could be detected. It was purely feral.

He fell to his four legs and turned to face White, who stirred as soon as Steven's eyes fell on her. The gem monarch stood, her face blank and eyes unfocused.

"Move!" Garnet yelled.

White launched herself forward and slammed into Blue, who fell over into Yellow.

"White, what are you doing?!" Yellow angrily asked her. "Get him, not us!"

But the monumental gem wasn't listening. She grabbed Blue's hair and threw her aside to separate the other two diamonds. Her eyes glowed a faint pink and Yellow barely moved out of the way in time to dodge the mind-controlling blast.

"What's happening?" Blue asked.

"It's Steven," Garnet curtly answered. "He's controlling her."

Blue shook her head, not even bothering to ask how. She saw White's own power reflect off Steven's barrier.

"Fuse again," Blue told the gems. "We need to end this." She rushed back to fray and pulled White off Yellow without another word.

… … … … … … … … … … … …

_**Author's note: Next chapter: Connie shows up! We're about at the halfway point of the story, I think. Let me know what you would like to see! **_


	5. Chapter Five: The Tides Turn

The battle was going poorly: Sugalite was angered by her lack of effectiveness, Blue and Yellow were tangled up with White, and Pearl was unable to bring herself to hurt the boy she loved.

Sugilite's whip wrapped around the beast, but he simply squared himself and puffed out his chest to break the line.

"Alright," the fusion growled as Steven looked at her with an amused expression. "I've had enough of you."

She ran forward, but Steven's gem glowed. She slammed into a pink barrier as diamond-shaped panels enclosed her into a dome.

"You think this can hold me?!" Sugilite yelled as she slammed her fists against the glitching wall. Pearl watched the fusion struggle; she watched the shadow of cracks appear in panels behind her, like thorny vines stretching across the pink light and reinforcing it, while at the same time, breaking it.

Steven turned away from the fusion to focus on White as the dome began to slowly shrink. It grew smaller as the walls closed in on the monumental fusion. She pushed and struggled, but she couldn't stop it. The more she struggled, the faster it closed in on her.

Pearl summoned her spear and ran forward. She tossed it like a javelin and it embedded in the heart of one of the vine-like cracks. The panel dissolved in a burst of light. Garnet and Amethyst unfused and tossed themselves through.

"Thanks, P," Amethyst said as she brushed herself off. "Another minute there and we would have been done for."

A huff from Steven drew their attention back to the beast. He just stared at them from over his shoulder. The pink dome behind them poofed from existence.

"Oh, now you can control it," Pearl said dryly.

He just continued watching them at the diamonds fought, his face unreadable. The longer they looked back at him, the worse they felt. Those eyes; off-colored and distant, so unlike the boy they knew.

"What are we going to do?" Amethyst asked no one in particular as she finally turned away from Steven's unrelenting gaze.

"The Little Homeworld gems are nearly here," Garnet said. "Connie is a minute away. Together, we can take him."

"Can we?" Amethyst asked as Steven roared and rammed his horned head into Blue's chest. "Without hurting him, I mean?"

All of their eyes fell to his bloodied tail and to the scratches and bruises that were forming on his skin as the fight went on.

"We don't have a choice," Garnet said, her jaw clenched.

"And with him controlling White, how do we deal with that?" Pearl asked as her eyes drifted to the Diamond.

Garnet shook her head. "Steven used her power against her by corrupting the blast meant for him. When it hit White, he connected her mind with his. It's just like when he connected with us when the Diamonds first came to Earth. We take him out and she goes down too."

"Right," Pearl said with a nod.

Steven growled lowly as if he heard Garnet's plan. His eyes narrowed and the air around them suddenly seemed to tingle. They all gasped and shielded their eyes as a bright pink glow overtook Steven's form.

At his roar, the sand around Steven's feet flew into the air and pelted the Crystal Gems. The scream that cracked walls sent fissures into the ground; it split concrete and buildings imploded upon impact. The mountain behind them cracked in two.

The Diamonds were thrown back; Yellow landed in the ocean, Blue crushed the Funland pier, and White fell to her knees and was pushed back.

With the aura still over his skin, Steven got down on all four legs once again and turned to face the three gems. His eyes skated over their gemstones and his eyes narrowed. They felt the very air sizzling as it threatened to destroy their bodies.

His claws dug into the sand as he braced himself and his eyes started to glow bright pink.

Before he could unleash his next destructive wave, a portal opened near his head. With an almighty roar, Lion used his power on Steven's temple as he came through the portal. Steven stumbled sideways from the surprise attack and the pink glow left his skin.

Connie jumped from Lion's back and used the distraction to slash her sword through the horn on Steven's left cheek. The beast took a step away as he instinctively pawed at the sore spot.

The teen kicked off Steven's chin and Lion zoomed back under her to catch her before she hit the ground. The cat took her over to the three gems and turned to growl at the beast, who was still winded from the sudden blow.

"What is that?!" Connie yelled, her sword ready to fight. "Where's Steven?"

Pearl put her hand on Connie's shoulder and gestured to the monster. "That _is_ Steven," she told the teen. "He corrupted himself."

"WHAT?"

Connie's scream seemed to jolt the monster back to its senses. It turned and looked at them with wider than normal eyes. The pain in them wasn't physical, but as if Steven knew that it was Connie who hurt him. His face darkened before any of the gems had a moment to process what they had just seen and he growled lowly. His gem glowed again.

"TAKE THAT!"

A large metal dumpster slammed Steven in the side of the head before he could attack. Peridot, cackling, flew around the monster on her trashcan lid as she lifted the dumpster again and dropped it on his already injured tail. Steven roared out in agony and snapped at her, but the green gem was too quick.

Water erupted from the ocean. It slammed into Steven and knocked his legs out from under him before it raised again to douse the flames of Beach City. Lapis Lazuli and Freckles worked together, arms raised as they split the task.

Bismuth shouted instructions as Crystal Gem warriors ran to the beach. They all brandished weapons. Connie readied herself on Lion's back.

"What's the plan?" she asked Garnet, who still looked grim.

"We subdue him without causing permanent damage," Garnet said. "Any physical damage we do, the Diamonds can heal."

Connie nodded, though her confidence was obviously wavering as she stared at the monster. The question of "how" was on her face as Steven faced the oncoming army. But it was undoubtedly him. The pink gemstone. The diamond irises. The face shape and nose. The pink glow that engulfed his form.

"Move!" Garnet yelled.

Lion took off and Connie could only watch from his back as Steven yelled out. The ground opened around him and swallowed gems and buildings whole. But Peridot, Lapis, Freckles, herself and Lion, all raced over and grabbed those that couldn't save themselves.

A pink wall formed around Steven, glitching more than ever as over half of the panels struggled to stay in existence. It burst away from him and forced the army further away. But it fazed out of existence before it could do more than push them back.

Behind them, Blue and Yellow slammed White into the ground and she tumbled out of sight, into one of the fissures Steven made. She didn't resurface.

"Connie!"

The girl looked over as Greg ran to her and Lion's side. She got off the cat and hugged the man, who was pale and shaken.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked him, though she knew the answer.

"My son is corrupted. What do you think?" Greg asked sarcastically, though his tone was gentle.

Connie looked over to the fight and watched as the gems slowly began to overtake Steven. He was huge and strong, but there were just too many of them. He would slam his feet down, but they would protect each other. If one poofed, two more stood over the gem and forced Steven back before he could do more damage.

Even Beach City was calming down as the glow of the fires died.

"He'll be okay," Connie finally answered. "He's Steven."

They both watched as Steven seemed to stop fighting for a moment. The monster shook his head violently as gems pummeled and smashed his fingers, but he didn't seem focused on them.

Then, all too quickly, the monster reemerged and he slammed his feet down, swatted at gems and knocked them away with pink walls and unseen forces.

"He's fighting it," Connie breathed.

Greg pursed his lips and forced a nod. "We tried to help him, but it led to this," Greg told her, his voice broken. "He wouldn't listen to us." He looked over to the girl and smiled. "If anyone can get through to him, maybe you can?"

Connie eyed the beast, who seemed to be holding back as more and more recognizable gems came into his field of view. She nodded and hopped back on Lion.

"I'll try," she said.

The cat raced off and brought her as close to the monster as she could be.

"Stand down," Connie yelled to the Little Homeworld Gems. "Let me try something."

They looked uneasy but complied as a reformed Alexandrite stepped behind the human and nodded.

Connie slid off Lion's back and slowly walked over to Steven, who stopped fighting too and was just staring at her. She couldn't tell if his face showed confusion because of her audacity to walk up to him, or because he knew her.

She dropped her sword in the sand and raised her hands in a gesture of peace. Steven's eyes narrowed, unconvinced. But he didn't move.

"Steven?" Connie called. The beast lowered his head slightly to listen. "This isn't you."

A low huff was her answer.

"You've always been the person to talk us down from fights and to help us understand our emotions," Connie continued. She stopped when she was looking straight up into the monster's face, just feet from his front leg. "Please, let us do the same to help you."

He lowered his head so he was staring down at the girl. Nothing changed in his face.

"Let me help you," Connie said. She reached her arm out to touch him.

Steven's eyes flashed at the movement and she barely had time to cover her face before he snapped down at her. But she watched him snap at the air just above where her head was; it was almost like he held himself back.

Lion grabbed her collar and yanked her away as Alexandrite knocked his head aside. She roared in his face and he jabbed his head up. His horn barely missed impaling her as it scratched against the side of her face. His skin glowed pink and she was forced back. Her heels dug into the sand and she charged again.

The ground shook as Lion brought Connie back to Greg.

"I'm sorry!" he told her as he pulled her off the cat and hugged her. "I shouldn't have put you in danger like that."

Connie shook her head. "He wasn't going to hurt me," Connie told him. She explained how the top of his nose had brushed her hair, but his mouth was still a good six inches from her.

Greg looked back at his son, a small amount of pride in his eyes. Even in this state, his son was still in there. Together, they watched the fight unfold and Steven get overwhelmed. But his fighting was more violent now. More gems poofed or were immobile. The destructive screams were more targeted; they blasted through gem's physical forms like an invisible blade.

He formed walls and shields, but they all seemed to fail as more vine-like shadows appeared on their surface.

Finally, Alexandrite, with the help of Yellow and Blue, forced his head down and slammed him into the ground. The glow of his gem was muted against the sand, but the pink aura still coated his skin. But his outburst wasn't enough to toss the two diamonds and fusion off him. All it did was blast back their hair and cause them to dig their heels into the ground.

He finally stopped struggling and huffed out in defeat. His head fell to the ground.

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl unfused and the Diamonds stood behind them, arms crossed.

Steven stayed down, his legs tight against his body as he watched the five gems closely. His tail whipped angrily behind him, but that was the only part of him that moved.

"Stop this, Steven!" Garnet yelled, her fists clenched. "You can't beat us!"

He stared at her as if he actually understood her. Something flashed behind his eyes, but Garnet couldn't tell if it was recognition or not. It was like the look on his face before he stopped himself from biting Connie. No, this was different. Almost like fear.

He lifted his head, his neck pulling away as Garnet stepped forward.

"That's it," Garnet said, her posture still rigid. "Just stand down."

Blue and Yellow looked at one another, uneasy as Steven shifted his panicked gaze toward them.

"Hey!" Garnet yelled to capture Steven's attention again. She felt like she was close to getting through to him. If this was the right timeline, this could work. She took off her visor as Steven looked back to her, his face unreadable.

"Remember when you learned I was a fusion?" Garnet asked the monster. "We were on Jasper's ship and you saved Ruby. She felt hopeless and lost and needed to find her other half."

Steven lowered his head toward Garnet as if entranced by the story. His eyes, however, flicked back to the diamonds again before looking back to the fusion.

"Yes, they caused all that," Garnet said offhandedly, taking a wild guess to interpret Steven's look. "But do you remember how Ruby found her other half? Sapphire sang to her to call her. Ruby ran off, not wanting to listen to follow the song, but you did! You followed it and found Sapphire and reunited her with Ruby."

Steven's eyes glinted and darted between her three eyes and Garnet could see him thinking, but the emotions in his face were still unreadable. His breathing seemed to steady and his body relaxed slightly.

"Thanks to you, we all escaped that night. You followed your heart and listened to the song to guide you. You need to stop doing that now and listen to me. To someone who loves you."

Steven lowered his head more so he was within Garnet's reach. All the fusion had to do was reach out and touch him. She lifted her arm and everyone held their breath as she leaned forward.

"That's it," Garnet told him, encouragingly. "Come back to us, Steven."

Behind them all, White slowly got up from the hole in the ground, unnoticed by any of the gems. The faint glow of Steven's gem as he called upon her aid was hidden by his massive body. Now with the fighting stalled, he could focus on controlling her.

When Garnet's hand was just an inch from his face, Steven lifted his head away from her. They all saw a sick grin form on his lips as he sucked in air, raised himself on his front legs and tensed.

His gem glowed brightly and pink light shot from White's eyes. It struck Blue first, then Yellow, as everyone turned to see what was happening.

"He tricked us!" Garnet yelled as she watched the chaos unfold.

Pearl and Amethyst jumped and dodged away as the Diamonds yelled out in agony. Their usual hue was replaced by a pale pink glow and they froze, becoming statues among the rubble.

"What happened to them?" Pearl yelled. Steven looked down at her next, then to all the gems on the battlefield. He shifted his head so he faced White and his brow furrowed.

"Move!" Garnet yelled. She grabbed Amethyst and began to run, but it was far too late. White yelled out, her gem glowing brighter than ever before. A moment later, a pink aura shot out in all directions and painted the landscape.

Gems scattered and scrambled to escape, but no one can outrun light. As soon as it hit a gem, they would freeze in place, encased in pale pink stone.

Humans ran too. Sadie and Shep, who were watching the battle from what they thought was a safe distance, pulled each other to the hillside. They didn't make it. The light hit them and, despite being human, they froze solid. Kiki tried to block the light by ducking behind rubble, but her shield was ineffective. She turned rigid as she cowered.

Lion ran onto the battlefield as he tried to rescue the gems, but even his portals couldn't save him. He froze with his front paws in the air as he tried to escape into a vanished portal.

Pearl was the first of the Crystal Gems to get hit. She yelled out in shock, her face morphed in a mixture of pain and fear before it solidified. Amethyst grabbed Garnet's hand and they entered the light together.

Greg and Connie were the last ones able to move. They stood in the distance, unable to process the landscape in front of them. Everyone was just frozen there, exactly as they were when the pink aura hit them. Unseeing. Unmoving.

White Diamond let go of her head and the pink light faded, feet from where Connie and Greg stood. The gems on the battlefield remained stony, the rosy hue still prominent on their skin.

"What did he do to them?" Greg whispered.

Steven was moving again. He slowly lowered his head and looked at his handiwork as he gingerly stood on all fours. His eyes glinted maliciously. Both Greg and Connie took a step back at the look of utter satisfaction on the monster's face. He knew he won. He knew there was nothing that could do to stop him now.

He took one step over to White, but his front arm, which was heavily bruised at his wrist from where Shep and Sadie hit him with a car, collapsed under his weight. He growled lowly before lifting it up and roaring into the sky.

Connie fell to her knees as she looked at the lizard-like beast. His iridescent horns sparkled in the glow as Beach City continued to burn. She watched blood drip down his skin, unnoticed by the beast. None of his wounds healed; they all bled freely and stained his pink skin.

She realized all of his defensive powers were gone; the walls, the shields, his healing power were all tainted by corruption. It was all offensive now. All built to fight. To destroy.

"Connie, we need to go," Greg said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll find help."

"No," Connie said as she forced herself back to her feet. "I won't leave him like this."

Greg sighed and looked to the monster. "Connie, I don't know how much we can do without their help. We need to go."

"NO!" Connie yelled again.

Steven's head whipped toward them and his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Steven is still in there, I know he is!" Connie insisted, not caring that she drew his attention. "We have to help him!"

Greg grabbed the girl and tried to pull her into cover, but she didn't budge. Connie instead turned to Steven.

"STEVEN!" she yelled, her eyes full of tears. "I'm not giving up on you!"

White Diamond slowly turned to face Connie. Greg pulled on the girl's jacket again, but she refused to budge.

"Go find help," Connie told him. "I'll distract him."

She bolted down the field and dodged White's first blast. Greg watched, horrified, but he snapped out of it as Connie yelled once more for him to go. He turned and ran, back to the car. He didn't know where he would go. Maybe Little Homeworld still had gems?

Although it broke his heart to leave his only family as a monster, he knew there was very little he could do. Not when his son was like this. But he would still try. He couldn't give up on him. He wouldn't.

Connie was alone on the sandy battlefield. She ran between the unmoving gem figures. She dodged, rolled, hid behind frozen gems, and ran; doing all she could to get close to her friend.

"STOP!" she yelled at him as she narrowly avoided White's next blast. To her surprise, White did stop.

Steven lowered his head and huffed at her. Connie slowly walked up to him, suddenly very aware of how small she was compared to him.

"Steven," she said softly. Her hand trembled as she stopped just feet from him. He lowered his head further so they could stare at one another. He blinked slowly, his eyes narrowed and angry.

"It's me," she tried. Her voice shook slightly as she spoke. "It's Connie."

Nothing changed in his face. To Steven, she was no more than a bug asking to be squashed. She was the last one of his attackers standing.

"Please," Connie said. She reached out her hand to him.

Then White hit her from behind. She felt coldness racing up her spine and she was unable to yell out before everything faded to black.

… … … … … … … … … …

_**Author's note: I see so many fan arts of Connie and Corrupted Steven, that I had to give them a moment in the fight. I can't even imagine Greg's reaction when/if he ever sees his son in a corrupted state. It's going to be so heartbreaking if/when it happens. **_


	6. Chapter Six: Share This Jam With Me

Connie gasped out and bolted upright. She drew in a long shuddering breath before she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on cold concrete in a dark room. Thorny vines crept along the walls; some with withered roses drooping, some dried and brown. She didn't know why, but they looked ominous. She stood, careful not to touch the plant beside her.

She slowly looked around and noticed the vines were tangled in numerous places as if they held down or encased something beneath them. She only had to turn her head to see what they held: Sadie's terrified face stared back at her. The girl tried to speak, but vines covered her mouth and pulled her back into the shadows.

Far behind Sadie, stood an immobile White Diamond. Her form was unmistakable, even with vines encasing her and pink blotches covering her gemstone as the corruption threatened to overtake her. Her gem glowed through the thick bramble that concealed it.

"What's happening?" Connie wondered out loud as she turned to look around. A strong pink glow drew her eyes upward.

Well above her, on top of an ensnared and gnarled statue, in the midst of the core of vines, was Steven. She strained her eyes and was able to see the statue he stood on was an exact replica of her friend, though thoroughly ensnared in gnarled vines, and the Steven on top of it wasn't fully there. It was like he was a ghost; transparent and illuminated.

"Where am I?" She breathed out. She looked down at her own body and gasped out. Transparent. "Am...am I…?" Her hand went to her chest and she found a steady heartbeat. "Not dead," she told herself.

She looked back at Steven and thought hard. This room. It looked exactly like what Steven described to her when the Diamonds first attacked Earth. While in it, Steven was able to connect with her with his unconscious mind.

Then she understood. Steven couldn't beat the gem warriors in the real world. So he took them into a place where he had all the power: his own head.

But she was still here. Free to move and think. She wasn't entangled like the other humans.

At least, not yet.

Connie clenched her fists and set her face. She had to get to Steven. She had to beat him in his own head. She was the only one who still could.

She took careful steps and danced around the gnarled vines. Some of them jerked, as if they sensed her, and moved toward her like snakes, but Connie was too quick. In movements that would have made Pearl proud, she vaulted herself to the base of Steven's statue.

She stared and the obstacle and jumped up. But she didn't fall back down like she thought she would. Instead, she soared up past where she intended to grab. She somersaulted backward and steadied herself carefully as she ascended.

With a strained noise, Connie willed herself to stop when she reached the source of the pink glow. Steven stood there; he looked like himself, all except his eyes. They were half-open and had dark circles under them, but it was more than that. His irises were pink and shaped like a diamond. Even his body, though untouched by visible marks of corruption, was different. His entire form was slumped like he was an empty shell of who he once was.

"Steven?" Connie called. The vines around him stirred restlessly, but the boy did not react. He didn't even blink.

Connie watched a vine creep along the ground and wind itself around Steven's leg as it joined all of the others that kept the teen ensnared. He didn't even flinch when it tightened and thorns embedded themselves into his skin. He just gave the same dead stare.

"Steven," Connie tried again, but this time, she reached out her hand to the boy. The vines didn't react as she inched closer to him. "It's me, Connie," she told him. Her voice broke as Steven still didn't react. "I'm here."

Her fingers brushed against his cheek. A loud wailing song erupted in the back of her head; it clogged her senses and shattered her sense of self. Words were there, but she couldn't make them out. She could only feel it drag her further from reality.

She barely felt a vine grab onto her ankle, but her fighter instincts kicked in. She yanked her leg away and pulled her hand back from Steven's face to swat at another one that danced closer to her.

As soon as her fingers left his skin, the vines became limp and the sound left her head.

Connie took in a sharp breath of relief and looked at the boy, who remained still.

"What was that?" she asked him even though she knew she wouldn't get a response.

She landed on top of the statue and stood in front of her friend. Her feet were just inches away from vines, but she didn't care. The answer was right in front of her, but Steven couldn't see her. He couldn't hear her. He didn't know her. Not while that song held him hostage.

She took another step closer to him, now barely a foot away from him.

"Steven," she said again as she raised both of her hands. "I got you."

She clasped her hands over his ears and pressed her forehead to his. She sensed the vines around her as they lashed out and tried to climb her leg, but she stomped on them every time. Some grabbed her arms and pulled, but she refused to budge and dug her hands into the side of Steven's face.

And the song. It tried to consume her. The melody screamed a mournful tune in her ear and Connie fought to remember who she was as a crippling chill came over her.

"Steven, don't listen to it," she begged, barely able to hear herself over the song.

She felt it wind its way down her body and nestle itself in her heart. Everyone around her was gone, she realized as she stared into the blank face of the boy in front of her. No one could help her. She couldn't even help the boy she loved. She was nobody. Nothing. Everything she did in the past meant nothing to the person she was now.

If she had been that person, she would have been able to help Steven. Maybe that's why he preferred to hear this song over Connie's voice. She left him alone to become this. She wasn't there for him when he needed her the most. He didn't like her anymore. She didn't deserve him. She deserved to feel alone.

"I don't blame you for giving up on me," Connie told the boy. She stopped fighting the vines as they crept up her ankles. She succumbed to the song's words that she couldn't understand, but she felt it deep within her. "I'd hate me too. I abandoned you. I left you alone and didn't even think that you were hurting."

The song wailed out, exactly like Steven had when she unknowingly hurt him with her sword.

"I'm a horrible friend," she told him as her voice broke.

The song agreed with her. Its assault on her senses seemed to stop as her heart shattered. It became a soothing melody and coaxed her toward it. It promised her a way to stop the ache in her chest, the burning in her eyes, and the indescribable pain that came with letting a friend down.

Connie's hands dropped from Steven's ears and she gently caressed his cheek.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She closed her eyes as a vine wound its way around her face.

Her fingers left his skin as the vines gently pulled her away, her hand still outstretched.

A hand suddenly latched onto hers and she felt the vines rapidly retract as if burned.

She forced her eyes open and gasped out. Steven had moved. He reached out and grabbed her hand, his eyes barely focused while he stared at her.

"You're not," he whispered, his voice strained as if each word was a struggle to form.

He pulled Connie back over to him and she stood, watching him as the song grew violent in her head again. But that song didn't matter to her anymore. All that did was keeping the boy in front of her focused on her.

"Not what?"

Steven blinked slowly. "A horrible friend," he breathed out. "That's me."

His head began to fall again and his hand went limp in hers. She was losing him again.

"No, you're my best friend!" Connie told him. She pressed his hand to her chest and stepped on vines to get close to him. They didn't move under her feet, though the ones around their heads swayed threateningly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you."

Steven's eyes trailed up slowly and met her gaze. Even in his mind, his eyes were still tainted by corruption: diamond-shaped and pink. She had never seen Steven look so lost, so defeated.

"We can beat this," she told him. "Together."

If Connie hadn't been focused on the teen in front of her, she would have missed him shaking his head. The movement was so slight that it almost didn't happen.

"You deserve a better friend," he said. His voice wasn't strained this time. It was clear and in the key of the song that barraged Connie's eardrums.

Connie forced out a laugh. "Come on," she said. "I saved the galaxy with you. We're stuck together."

Steven pulled his hand out of hers, but his fingers paused slightly before they completely left her grasp. His hand fell back to his side and he took a small step back. Move vines wrapped around his chest from behind and the ones that dangled around them slowly moved closer.

"Leave me alone," Steven said, his voice detached. His eyes fell to the ground again, unseeing.

"No!" Connie said. She tried to take a step forward, but a vine with a rose on it grabbed her wrist and yanked her back. Even though she was no longer touching him, the song raged on in her head. She heard it calling out to her, begging for her to let go of the boy and instead focus on it.

But she didn't.

Instead, she planted her feet and tugged at the vines as the wound around her limbs. She tried to lash out at the vines as they encased Steven in a thorned bubble, but she couldn't reach them. The vines, the song, it was all too strong.

Wait. A song.

Her heart pounded in her chest as more vines grabbed her and curled around her body. She struggled and fought, but it was useless. She only had one chance.

"The sun is bright, our shirts are clean, we're sitting high above the sea, come and share this jam with me!" Connie sang out, her voice ringing oddly in the room.

Silence met her, but she did notice Steven's head turn slightly toward her as she sang.

"Come on, Steven!" she called as the vines wound their way around her throat and pulled her further from him. "You wouldn't leave your jam bud hanging, right?!"

The vines covered her mouth and quickly encased her. She couldn't move. She couldn't see. All she could do was listen to the wailing melody that she couldn't understand.

Unseen to her, Steven raised his head and watched his childhood friend disappear from view. He winced as the vines curled tighter around her and he began to feel something within the empty void that was his chest. His heart began to race and his hand shook as he tried to raise it toward her.

"Connie," he whispered. The blood in his ears overtook the sound of the song he had grown so accustomed to hearing. As soon as the words were drowned out, the world around him seemed to snap back into focus, just ever so slightly.

"Connie!" he yelled out this time. He ripped his arm from the vines grasp and reached out. He pulled and tried to take a step, but the plants held him back. He grunted and groaned, but no matter how he struggled, they only wound around him tighter and moved fasted to encase him in a withered isolation chamber. The song kept crashing in his head like waves, waning and waxing, as his desperation turned to panic and panic turned to hopelessness.

He couldn't get to her. He couldn't save her. He wasn't strong enough.

He did this. She was here because of him. Trapped because of him.

Why did he even _want _to save her? She attacked him. Hurt him. Didn't she need to hurt too?

His arm fell, but his hand clenched into his a fist. He felt moisture on his cheeks as he stared at the vines in front of him. The vines began to close the only window to Connie he had left.

"No," Steven whispered, feeling the vines pulling him closer to them as they tightened their grip. "No, I don't want this for her."

The song wailed again and he gasped out. His hands weaved through his hair and his chest tightened. The melody became mournful, overpowering and guilting; it missed him. It wanted him to sing with it again. It wanted him to stop feeling again.

He felt it wrap around his mind and caress his consciousness. It hummed gently, though urgently. But it felt cold. He felt the chill sink down his spine and his body slumped again as it succumbed to the numbness. The icy hand gripped his heart and slowed its movements. As his eyes fell to the ground, he glanced once to his hand and flexed his fingers.

It felt nothing like her hand did. There was no warmth. No comfort. No friendship.

With the song, he didn't have to feel. He just had to listen. To hum along. To give in to the bursts of emotions when they happened and know he would sink back into the emptiness before long.

But her hand in his? It was...nice.

A pang of pain erupted in his chest and Steven doubled over from the sudden sensation from his freely beating heart. The vines around his neck withered and pulled away suddenly as if burned by the sudden heat radiating from the boy's skin.

Steven looked at the wall of vines in front of him and a pained breath escaped his lips as he pulled his arm forward again. Two vines snapped, but three more grabbed onto him. The song turned violent again, but this time, it wouldn't stop him. He wanted to feel her hand again. He wanted the warmth that came with it.

He needed her.

"Connie!" Steven yelled her name like it was the only word he knew. The only thing he knew he needed. His blood boiled and movements became far more sporadic as he struggled with the vines around him. They wouldn't stop him. Not this time.

He took a breath and turned his frustration and panic into the power that started this mess. His skin glowed pink and the vines quickly retracted, but they weren't fast enough.

Steven yelled as he forced his emotions outward: "Leave her alone!"

Pink light burst from him and the vines curled and silently shrieked as they were encased in the aura. Many were blasted apart the moment the light touched them. Those that didn't decay stiffened and turned to stone. They stood and dangled around the statue's head, like dead and gnarled tree roots.

Steven fell to his knees and the light faded from his skin and gem. He looked around the room spinning and his vision pulsed in and out of focus as he took in the damage. Everything was stone. Including the vines that encased Connie.

"No," he whispered before his strength left him. He fell over to his side and curled up, unable to do more than focus on breathing and shutting out the waning melody that refused to let him fall unconscious. He could barely turn his head when a faint cracking met his ears.

The vines surrounding Connie flaked away to reveal a pink flower that struggled to bloom against its restraints. Moments later, the stone shattered and the petals fell completely open. Connie sat inside of it, looking confused and stunned.

She looked over and saw the teen lying on his side and watching her through half-closed eyes.

"Steven!" She jumped off the flower and landed by him. She pulled him up and supported his weight as he leaned against her. The song lashed out and both of them winced, but neither of them gave it the attention it wanted. Instead, they just held each other.

"Peach or plum or strawberry?" Steven broke the silence with a soft voice. Connie looked down at him, confused for a moment before she realized he was continuing their jam song. She laughed out and tears quickly began to fall from her eyes.

"Any kind is fine, you see," Connie said as she pulled Steven closer. "As long as it's with my jam bud."

Steven clung onto her, but his grip was weak. Connie noticed the vines on the walls and ceiling slowly coming back to life as small dust particles and stone began to fall from them. She knew this wasn't a battle she could win. She knew that this wasn't a battle Steven could win. Not on his own.

"Steven," Connie said urgently as she pushed the boy back to look at his face. "You need to let the others go. They can help you."

"The others?" Steven asked weakly.

Connie nodded and pointed below them. "They're in vines. They're like statues in the real world. I think you brought them here to stop the fighting."

Steven's eyes unfocused as his brow furrowed, clearly trying to remember. "I…," he said, but he shook his head. He took a breath and nodded, though Connie felt his posture stiffen from guilt.

"Okay," he said after a moment more of silence. Connie watched him close his eyes and turned to see the vines begin to crawl up the walls, away from those on the ground. They all turned and made their way toward Steven and Connie.

The song grew in volume again. The gentle melody no longer existed. It no longer targeted Connie; its full attention was on Steven. Connie jumped when he heard Steven hum along to it.

"What are you doing?" Connie cried. "Don't give in!"

Steven shook his head but didn't speak. He continued to hum and as he did, the vines on the floor retreated from the ones they held hostage and pointed at the two teens. Gems and humans alike gasped out below them and fell over with huffs before their forms fazed out of existence.

Connie, who watched the progression, understood.

"You're redirecting it," she said. "You're forcing it back on yourself."

Steven nodded.

"Only way," he breathed out. He didn't resume his humming this time. The vines swayed but did not move closer. "It's my problem."

Connie shook her head and gently lifted Steven's head so his eyes met hers. "If you let us, we'll help carry your burden."

"B-but," Steven said as he gestured weakly to the vines around him.

Connie shushed him and pulled him close again. "No buts. That's what friends do. You did the same for us, it's time we repaid the favor."

Steven said nothing. He just took in a shuddering breath and held onto Connie like she was his lifeline. The pair sat and ignored the corrupted song around them for a while longer, just listening to each other's hearts beat.

The vines were slowly edging up the statue and Connie watched them grab onto Steven's ankle and curl up his leg. One brushed against her foot and latched onto weakly too.

Steven pulled away as he noticed the vine on her leg. He reached over and pulled it off, only to have it latch onto his hand.

"There's nothing more you can do," Steven said as Connie opened her mouth to protest. They both just watched it weave around his arm.

Steven shakily pushed himself up and pulled Connie up to stand with him. He hesitated before letting her go completely.

"You should go," he said.

"But…," Connie started, but the vines were moving quicker now.

The song shrieked out and both of them jumped and clasped their hands over their ears. It helped, Connie realized; the song was no longer inside their head. It was around them. Fighting to get back in.

Steven's gem glowed in response to the outburst and his eyes widened as he looked down to stare at it. The color started in his cheeks and spread to cover his entire body as the boy strained against it.

"No!" he said and he shook his head violently. "Stop it!"

She watched in horror as Steven doubled over, his arms over his gem. His entire body glowed a sickly pink now. She took a small step back when two horns sprouted from his head and a large pink blotch grew on his neck.

"Steven?" Connie asked. She reached out to the boy and felt the heat coming from his skin. The moment her finger touched his arm, an immense shock of pain jolted her and reverberated down her entire arm.

"Connie!" Steven said, voice urgent. "I'm sorry. I..."

Connie nursed her arm and followed Steven's gaze down to her fingertips. They were deep pink. The same color as the corruption scars that covered Steven's face.

"You have to go!" Steven yelled as he stepped away from her. The song was raging around them, booming like thunder and overpowering their senses. Connie barely heard Steven yell to her as she took in the new color to her skin. She watched it grow slightly as the song increased its volume and tempo.

"CONNIE!"

She snapped back to reality and watched Steven struggle against the vines to get away from her.

"You need to go!" he told her.

She closed her fist around the corruption and nodded to him. She didn't want to leave, but staying wouldn't help him. Being corrupted herself would only spell her friend's doom.

"Promise me one thing," Connie said as Steven took a breath and raised a hand toward her, palm out. Her vision started to blur and fade around the edges as he pushed her from his mind. "Promise me you won't stop fighting. Promise you'll remember me!"

Silence rang out as her vision left her.

Then…

"I promise."

… … … … … … … … … ..

_**Author's note: This chapter is what inspired chapter two and on. I am very happy with how it turned out. What did you think?**_


	7. Chapter Seven: Fighting Back

Connie felt her body unfreeze and she toppled to the ground, but something caught her before she hit it.

"Steven?"

But it wasn't the boy. Lion had swooped in under her and quickly carried her away. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on the field around her. Gems were swarming Steven again, who desperately twisted, turned, bucked and stomped, but he was being overwhelmed.

Connie noticed he didn't fight as hard as he was before. He didn't create any walls. He didn't force them away with his power. He just writhed and thrashed instinctively as their weapons dug into his skin.

And the gems. Only some of them attacked him. Others stayed on their knees; eyes pained as they looked at the monster they briefly shared a connection with. Most of them who watched had been corrupted themselves. Nephrite was the only one on her feet and begging others to stop fighting as she openly cried.

But no one listened, even if they too cried as they fought Steven. They all understood now. But they also understood that it wasn't over. Not yet.

The few new gems that joined the fight didn't understand, though. They pressed on, relentlessly.

White Diamond stood there stoic and unresponsive as Steven cried out in a mix of panic and pain.

"No, Lion!" Connie pulled on his mane and the cat stopped to look at her. "We need to get them to stop! Steven's still in there."

"Connie!" Greg shouted. He ran over to her and tried to pull her off the cat's back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Connie said as she pushed Greg away. "I need to get back to Steven!"

"What?!" Greg exclaimed. "Connie, I got help. They'll take him down. It's okay."

"No," Connie shook her head. "He's still there! I talked to him!'

Greg looked at the girl, not understanding. "Connie," he said gently. He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but the girl shrugged it off. "When I came back, you were frozen solid. If Lion hadn't grabbed you…"

Connie pushed him away and caught sight of her hand. Both her and Greg froze: her fingers were a deep pink. The same color as Steven's skin. As soon as she noticed it, her hand began to ache and throb.

"Connie," Greg said. "Is that…?"

Connie nodded and clenched her fist to hide her fingers. "It happened when I was in Steven's head."

"In his head?!"

Connie nodded. "When he froze all the gems, he connected with their minds and overwhelmed them. When I got there, I had some time to get through to Steven."

"And did you?"

Connie nodded again and looked over to the panicked monster as it roared loudly and smashed its tail against the ground. "He's fighting it," she told Greg. "But he can't do it without us."

Greg took a deep breath and his shoulders sagged in relief. "He's still in there?"

"Yes," Connie said. "But I don't know how much longer we have. I have to get to him."

"Then go," Greg said. "I'll get Sadie, Shep, and Kiki to safety."

Connie smiled at him and put her hand on Lion's mane. The cat looked at her as if he knew what she was going to ask him.

"Please, Lion, get me close to him," she asked.

After another moment of staring at the girl, the big cat turned to run toward Steven.

With each hit Steven took, Connie saw his eyes unfocus and more animalistic tendencies enter the monster's body language. The harder he fought, the more violent he became: The more his friends hurt him, the more of himself he lost.

"We need to stop them!" Connie yelled and Lion responded by jumping over gems head's and landing directly in front of Steven. He turned his back to Steven, puffed up his chest and let out a fierce roar. The impact flung the oncoming gems backward so Connie had room to work.

Lion growled as he dared anyone to approach him and the human he carried. Connie slowly got off him and faced Steven. She eyed his cuts, which oozed blood and saw his limbs tremble as he took a small step back from her.

"Steven?" she asked him softly.

"Connie, what are you doing?!" Pearl cried. Lion's growl kept her at bay and her shriek told Connie that Lion had snapped at her. "Get away from him!"

Connie ignored her and slowly raised her hand with the corruption scars. Steven began to growl at her, his eyes narrowing into slits as he watched her approach. His entire body language told her that he was unsure about her.

But then his eyes fell to her discolored fingers and he froze.

"It's okay," Connie told him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Steven huffed out and his body tensed further as Connie continued to move forward.

"You remember your promise?" she asked him, aware that her hands were shaking. Steven lowered his head toward her and bared his teeth as he growled lowly in warning, like an animal backed in a corner.

"You promised to keep fighting," Connie told him, her voice too low for anyone but Steven to hear.

The monster blinked slowly and his back legs tensed and began to shake like he was getting ready to pounce on her.

"CONNIE!" Garnet yelled, but the human kept moving closer.

"You promised," Connie whispered, just feet from Steven now. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched her friend struggle with himself. His eyes kept unfocusing and focussing; growing angrier and more frustrated every time they did.

Connie watched his front arms shake as he slowly lowered himself so he was as close to Connie's height as he could be. His eyes focused on her and they softened slightly. His back half slowly sank too as he showed submission. He tilted his head down and his forehead met Connie's corrupted fingers.

"You promised to remember me," Connie breathed as she pressed her forehead to Steven's. He let out a whimper that only Connie could hear. "I got you," she told him. "Jam buds stick together."

Steven closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Connie felt his body relax.

The gems behind them began to stand down. Lion walked over to Connie and rubbed his face against her side before nudging Steven's with his nose.

"I don't believe it," she heard Pearl breathe behind them. "Steven?"

"Now's our chance," Garnet said. "Connie, can you talk to him? Get him to Rose's Fountain?"

Connie pulled her face back, but kept her hand on Steven and watched him open his eyes.

"We need to heal you," she told him. "Can you stay in control?"

She watched his face twitch as he strained to keep control of himself. His eyes briefly glowed and White moved forward one step, but he closed his eyes and turned his head violently to the side. White froze again.

An idea suddenly blossomed in her head.

"Or can you let White go?" Connie suggested when she saw how much the corrupt side of him fought back at the idea of healing him. The three Diamonds could help him here. Maybe they didn't need the fountain.

Steven's eyes traveled and focused on the largest gem in the galaxy. Connie heard a loud crash, which told her White had just fallen to her knees. Steven suddenly bucked his head and shook it wildly. He pawed at his ears and thrashed. He stepped away from Connie and his claws tore into the side of his head.

He roared, but it wasn't from the physical pain. Connie imagined the corruption lash out at Steven's mind; it smacked him, pulled him, pinned him down, but he still fought against them. He wasn't giving in. He was keeping his promise, no matter how many vines pulled him down.

Now was their chance.

Connie looked behind her and yelled. "White, Yellow, Blue!"

The Diamonds, who were pulling White to her feet, nodded. They ran forward and jumped. Their weight combined pinned Steven to the ground. All of their hands and gems glowed as they tried to heal the boy.

He thrashed beneath them, but his movements were getting weaker. His wounds closed sluggishly, but the healing wasn't taking effect nearly as quickly as Connie thought it would. Steven whimpered quietly and his eyes struggled to remain focused on Connie.

He was trying to tell her something. That this wasn't working. But why?!

Then it hit her. Three Diamonds couldn't heal corruption. But all four could.

Connie walked over to him and pressed her hand against his face again and looked right into his eyes, which were filled with pleading panic. She pressed her forehead against his once more.

Garnet walked up next to her and gently placed her hand on Steven's cheek and smiled small up at the corrupted boy. Pearl and Amethyst joined on either side of Connie too.

"We're here, dude," Amethyst told him. "We got you."

Greg, Sadie, Shep, and Kiki walked up next to her and all of them smiled at Steven before reaching out and placing a comforting hand on him too.

"It's okay," Connie gently told him. "We believe in you."

Steven closed his eyes and Connie swore she heard him hum a line to their jam song.

The Diamonds drew back as Steven's form began to glow. Everyone but Connie pulled their hands away as it shrank and turned humanoid. As soon as the glow faded, Connie pulled Steven close and felt him weakly latch onto her. She felt him tremble and felt tears roll onto her neck, but couldn't see his face. His arms and neck had patches of discoloration visible through his torn shirt; from deep pink corruption scars to angry bruises and half-healed cuts. It might have been the light, but Connie swore one scar looked like a vine that wrapped along his right arm and up to his shoulder.

But it was Steven.

Wordlessly, the gems and Greg got on their knees and wrapped their arms around him and Connie.

"Welcome back," Greg told his son as he ran his fingers through his son's hair.

"Steven, why didn't you tell us?" Pearl asked the boy sadly.

Garnet nodded, though unseen by the boy. "You're never alone," she told him. "We're always here for you."

Amethyst nodded and nudged the boy playfully. "Yeah dude, you helped us, after all. It's the least we could do."

Steven took a shuddering breath before he slowly nodded. His grip on Connie had significantly loosened as he quickly lost his strength. She held him all the tighter when she realized how pale he was.

"Steven?" she asked him as worry dominated her voice.

"I'm sorry," Steven breathed out before his body shuddered and went limp.

"Steven!" the gems cried out when he passed out. Greg reached out and Connie gently passed the boy to his father.

"He'll be okay," Greg said confidently. "It just took a lot out of him."

"One moment."

Everyone looked up as Blue knelt down beside them. She put her hand to her gem and it glowed soothingly before she lightly pressed one finger to Steven's chest. They watched the rest of his cuts close, bruises fade, and the bags under his eyes seemed to grow lighter, ever so slightly.

"There we are," she said gently as she pulled away from the boy. "Now he can rest easy."

Greg nodded and stood. He strained under the effort — he wasn't as young as he once was and Steven wasn't exactly a kid anymore — but he took his next steps with confidence. He wasn't about to let his son down again.

"Let's get him out of here," Greg said as he walked away from the wreckage of the city.

… … … … …

_**Author's note: One more chapter left! **_


	8. Chapter Eight: Isolation

Everything around him was in turmoil. The shadows shifted and flashed with pink and blurry images of gems poofing, of a clawed hand crushing Garnet, of White Diamond begging him to stop as the song warped her sense of right and wrong, of a forgotten melody and the feeling of thorny vines wrapping around him.

He was trapped there. Unable to move. Unable to think. Only able to feel and even those feelings didn't feel like they were his. He was detached from himself. Removed. Isolated from the person he once was.

At the time, it felt like a reprieve. When the world was falling around him, he didn't have to feel the ground beneath his feet crumble. But now, it was suffocating. The screams of his friends. Barely being able to make out their terrified faces and hardly able to recognize that they were trying to hurt him.

But it wasn't to hurt him, right? They needed to help him and they didn't know how. He fought them. They just defended their home. His home.

After everything he's done, they would be right to leave him here in this darkness, Steven thought to himself. After everything he's done, all the pain and trouble he's caused, he wouldn't blame them if they wanted nothing to do with him. After all, he didn't want anything to do with them back then. Why should he expect them to still want to help? To still care?

Everyone has their limit. Was this theirs?

At least he would have Connie.

At her name, a small bubble of warmth grew in his chest. She hurt him, but it wasn't intentional. She was distant lately due to school, but she still came to his aid. She still believed in him enough to push through her own guilt and struggles. It was her touch that kept him from drowning. Her voice called him back from the void of the damned. Her love that brought him back to life.

He didn't deserve her. Yet, she stayed. The slight pressure he felt on his hand told him she was here now.

Steven took a deep breath as he willed the darkness around him to lessen.

"Steven?"

The voice was faint, but he recognized it. The worry and gentleness behind it were enough for him to force his eyes open and face the world again.

"You're awake!"

Before he could register his surroundings, Connie pulled him into a tight hug. Her shoulders shook and he felt wetness on his shirt. He held her close and ignored how his arms screamed in protest at the slight movement.

"Hi Jam Bud," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

She pulled away with a relieved laugh and wiped her eyes. "You remembered?"

Steven nodded before he dropped his eyes down to look at his hands. Connie's were resting in his, relaxed and at ease.

"How much do you remember?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Enough," he admitted as his thumb ran over one of the deep pink scars left on his hand. His eyes flicked to Connie's fingers and his entire body visibly relaxed when he noticed they weren't discolored.

"It went away when the Diamonds healed you," Connie said, her eyes also on her hands.

"I'm sorry," Steven responded. His voice broke and he did everything he could to not look at the girl in front of him. But Connie raised her right hand and cupped his chin. She gently lifted it for their eyes met: one pair watering and filled with shame, the other calm and caring.

"It's okay," Connie whispered as she wiped Steven's tears. "We're Jam Buds, right? Nothing can tear us apart."

Steven nodded and gave a water chuckle before he finally noticed his surroundings. It was a small room with wood walls and mismatched painted beams. He seemed to be laying on a pile of pillows instead of a bed.

"Where are we?"

Connie looked around and bit her lip. "Little Homeworld," she answered after a second. "We couldn't take you back to Beach City after...," she stopped again and blushed.

But Steven knew what she meant. The smell of smoke still stung his nose and he could still hear buildings falling around him.

"After I destroyed it," Steven finished her sentence, somewhat bitterly. The words hurt him to say and heat rose in his stomach as his face turned red. He pulled away from Connie and drew his knees close to his chest.

"Hey," Connie said, but Steven refused to look at her. "We know you weren't in control."

Steven didn't answer. He wasn't in control. Not entirely. But he remembered the elation he had felt when he heard their screams; that floating feeling of ecstasy at being unburdened by empathy and reason. He might have been tainted by corruption, but some part of him wanted to hurt them.

"Think about Nephrite," Connie said as she read the look of the contorted guilt on the teen's face. "She attacked you and the gems, but you know what she would never do anything like that now. It was her instinct to defend herself."

"It wasn't instinct," Steven countered before he could stop himself.

"From what the gems told me, you were attacking the things that hurt you. From what I felt when I was in your head, you felt so alone and like you didn't belong in Beach City anymore," Connie pressed gently.

He still didn't feel like it mattered. Especially not after this. How would they move on? How would anyone forgive him?

"No one blames you, Steven," Connie told him. "They're all in the other room, waiting to see if you're okay."

Steven's head whipped around, his eyes wide. "Who?"

"Sadie, Shep, Kiki, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, your dad," she counted on her fingers. "The rest of the city and the Diamonds are around Little Homeworld too and they keep stopping in to ask about you."

"Everyone knows?" Steven felt the color drain from his face. His head fell into his hands and he took a shuddering shallow breath.

"And no one cares," Connie told her as she put her hand on his shoulder. "They all love you, Steven, even after this."

"Do they?" Steven countered, but there was no anger in his voice.

"Yes," Connie told him firmly. "They do. And I know they want to see you."

"No," Steven whispered, shakily. He didn't want to see their faces. Would they look at him in fear when he walked in the room, ready to summon their weapons? Or would they look down on him for not being able to be better, for not being able to save himself?

"What are you afraid of?" Connie asked quietly. She moved closer to him and put her arm around him. She felt him shake, felt how he both drew away from her before he leaned into her.

"How can they accept me after this?" Steven finally answered. His voice was so low that Connie had to lean in to hear it. "I'm a monster."

"No, you're not," Connie told him. Steven glanced her way and Connie knew her next words would either confirm or deny his fear of the gems abandoning him. "You're their family."

Steven's eyes softened and his lips trembled as his eyes filled with tears again. Connie pulled him close and let him cry silently on her shoulder.

"We love you, no matter what, Steven," she told him. "And the gems out there," she said as she gestured to the window across the room, "They all know how you're feeling. You're not alone."

Then why did he feel like he was?

Connie pulled away from him and stood. She offered her hands to Steven and waited with bated breath.

Steven slowly looked at her hands and his breath caught in his chest. He raised his hands and gently placed them in Connies. They both ignored how much the boy shook.

This was the only way to prove himself wrong.

Or right.

Connie tugged him to his feet. For a moment, the room around him spun and his legs burned in protest, but Connie placed a supporting arm around his waist. She smiled encouragingly at him and Steven nodded to her. Together, they walked out of the room and quietly entered the larger living area.

The gems were all standing in the center of the room. Pearl's arms were crossed and her foot was tapping with impatient worry. Garnet's entire body was stiff and Steven could see her concern, even with her back turned to him. Amethyst was rocking on the balls of her feet.

Sadie and Shep sat on the couch with Greg, who had his head in his hands. Kiki stood next to them, her hand on his shoulder.

"I failed him," Greg said, his voice muffled.

"No, you didn't," Shep said, comfortingly. "None of us knew what was happening."

"And none of us expected it to happen to someone like Steven," Sadie added.

"That's the problem!" Greg said. "I didn't notice that my own son needed help until it was too late."

"What about what we discussed before?" Pearl said.

"Does something like that even exist?" Amethyst asked.

"Oh yeah!" Kiki said, confidently. "I went a few times after Steven helped me realize how unhealthy my work/life balance was. It really helped me."

Sadie nodded too. "I went after Lars was lost in space. It helped me cope with it."

"And this doctor," Garnet said carefully. "They're used to gem-related incidents?"

Kiki laughed. "Of course! Everyone in Beach City is now."

Connie felt Steven inch back toward the bedroom, but she pulled him forward and cleared her throat.

Greg's face shot out of his hands and his face lightened instantly. "Steven!" He rushed forward and Connie stepped away to allow the man to embrace his son.

Steven's eyes went wide for a moment before he was blocked from view. He felt his dad shake as he held him and heard him sniff. At that moment, all of Steven's walls crumbled to dust. He threw his arms around his dad and buried his face into his chest.

"Dad," he whispered, voice muffled and contorted by tears. "I'm sorry."

Greg pulled away and held his son's face in his hands. His thumbs brushed away his tears.

"No, I'm sorry," Greg told him. "I should have known you'd be going through a hard time with everything changing so quickly."

Steven shook his head and pulled away from his dad.

"No, I should have just talked to you instead of acting like it wasn't a problem," Steven countered. "It's my fault."

Greg looked sadly at his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it feels that way, but it's not your fault," he said, kindly. "You're allowed to feel and allowed to break down. I wish you would have talked to us, but we didn't handle it the greatest either. So please let us help you now."

Steven lifted his head and dared to peak over his dad's shoulders at everyone gathered in the small room. Shep's hand was on Sadie's shoulder and both of them were looking at him with soft eyes. Kiki smiled encouragingly at him and waved hello.

Pearl had her hands clasped together near her heart and her eyes were filled with worry and love. Garnet's arms were crossed, but her visor was off and all three of her eyes were kindly looking at Steven as they watered with relief. Amethyst was leaned back in a chair, her posture at ease as she shot Steven a broad smile.

He looked back down and hid his face as he tried to hide his own smile.

He had been wrong.

Greg pulled away after another moment and he guided Steven to the couch. Thankful to get off his feet, Steven sunk down and gave Connie a small smile as she sat beside him. Greg sat on his other side and Sadie reached over Connie to pat his shoulder.

Steven's eyes fell to his knees and his fists grasp at his pants, suddenly very aware of how torn his shirt and jeans were. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

"Here," Pearl stepped forward and summoned a new pink jacket from her gem. She wrapped it around Steven's shoulders lovingly before she stepped back. "That should be more comfortable."

"Thanks," Steven said, shyly. He pulled the jacket around him, not bothering to put his arms into the sleeves.

"So," Amethyst said to break the silence. "Want to tell us what's going on?"

Steven tensed and his heart thudded painfully at those words. He knew that they knew how he felt. They were all there in the mindscape. They all tried to help him, but the song and the vines were too much.

"Why do you feel like you can't talk to us?" Garnet supplied, helpfully, as she sensed the boy's inner turmoil.

"I just," Steven started, though he struggled to find the right words. Talking had always been his strongest weapon, paired with his power to change. But lately, it was so difficult for him to do. But why? Wasn't he used to solving problems?

He blinked, a look of realization dawning on his face. He was never on this side of the situation before. He was always trying to fix others' problems, but he never thought about how hard it was for them to open up. He was exactly like Pearl or Amethyst in this situation; wanting to talk about something he felt like he couldn't talk about, like the origins of Rose Quartz and of their own problems about how they came to be.

He was in their shoes now. If they could do it, then he could too. He owed them the same level of respect and vulnerability they showed him.

"I didn't want to hurt you," he started. "I didn't want Pearl to blame herself and I was tired of hearing advice from Garnet or Amethyst's maturity. Everything was so different and I didn't know how to handle it. I thought it didn't matter."

He took a deep breath and continued to stare at his hands. "I didn't have a purpose anymore. You didn't need me like you used too. I just felt like my problems didn't matter. Like _I_ didn't matter."

Steven chanced a glance at the gems and found all of their faces had fallen, but it wasn't from anger or frustration but from guilt.

Garnet stepped forward. "We never meant for you to feel like you couldn't talk to us," she said. "We've struggled with you growing up, and we didn't know how to handle it either. I'm sorry."

Amethyst leaned forward and nodded. "Yeah, dude. It's all been so sudden for us too and I didn't realize how much we've changed. How much _I've _changed. We've grown together and I was too focused on my new responsibilities to see how that was affecting you."

Pearl walked forward and knelt down in front of Steven, her eyes soft. "Steven," she said, her voice soft. "I know I haven't been the most stable in the past, but I care too much about you to fall apart when you need me. You made me stronger. You taught me how to be okay with the past. I'm here for you now, if you'll let me be."

Steven reached forward and pulled Pearl into a tight hug; one she responded to immediately with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Steven repeated.

"I am too," Pearl said. "You were just a kid and I expected you to solve problems that were thousands of years old. It was never fair to you."

Steven pulled back slightly and looked over to Garnet and Amethyst. He gestured them over and they enthusiastically joined the hug. When they pulled away, all of them wiped their eyes and had smiles on their faces.

Steven's faded quickly though. "I just…," he started again, suddenly unable to look any of the gems in the eyes. "I want to talk with you guys, but I don't know how."

Greg put his hand on Steven's shoulder. "I think we have a solution for that, Schtu-ball."

"Yeah!" Kiki chimed in. "There's this great therapist in town. He really helped me and Sadie."

Steven looked over to her, confused.

"A therapist is like a doctor," Shep started to explain. "They help talk you through your problems and give you advice. It's a judgment-free zone."

"And they're not going to get hurt by whatever you say to them," Sadie gently told him when she sensed Steven's discomfort. "They're completely unbiased and confidential."

"And that would help?" Steven asked after a moment of processing the information.

Greg nodded. "Even I went to one after I changed my name and left my family behind," he told Steven. "That was a long time ago, but she helped me understand who I was."

Steven looked to his hands, his thoughts hidden from the rest of the group as he ran his thumb over a small corruption scar. He knew Pearl meant what she said. He knew Garnet would try to change to help him. He knew Amethyst was more mature, but still like a sister to him.

And he knew that his words would still have consequences if he talked to them. But not talking and let it all fester inside of him again? It wasn't an option.

But neither was hurting them.

He closed his fist and covered his hand to hide the deep pink mark.

"Okay, I'll give it a shot," he finally said. He leaned back against the couch and Connie wrapped her arm around his before she grabbed his hand. He looked over at her and couldn't help but smile at the pride and warmth in her eyes.

The moment didn't last as the front door burst open and Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth ran in.

"Steven!" They yelled.

"Sorry I hit you with a dumpster," Peridot said. "It was a real trashy situation."

Groans and chuckles filled the room before the chatter picked up again. The next couple of hours were a whirlwind to Steven as Beach City and Little Homeworld residents funneled in and out of the house to see him.

The worst was the Diamonds, who insisted on taking him back to Homeworld so he could rest and recover with them. They all huffed in frustration when he refused but thankfully agreed to go home with the promise of Steven visiting them when he felt better.

"After all," White had told him. "I know what it feels like to need to make things better."

The sun had long since set when Steven was finally able to return to his room in Little Homeworld and collapse on the make-shift bed.

Connie insisted on spending the night and was in the next room trying to convince her parents. Pearl and Garnet were coordinating where humans could stay while Beach City was under construction. Amethyst, Shep, Sadie, and Kiki were all checking on everyone and bringing them supplies. His dad and Nanefua were leading a group of people and gems to scout around the city for any stragglers.

And Steven? He was alone.

The dark room around him didn't feel empty, though. Gone was the cold feeling of shame and the fear that everyone he knew was leaving him behind. He didn't look around the room and feel lonely. He didn't see it as a place to hide away.

It felt warm and full, like a place to rest and grow. The worst was behind him, for now at least, and he felt a small hope budding inside him that he would find his purpose again soon.

Sure, he wasn't saving the galaxy anymore. He didn't need to; he already did that. And yeah, he wasn't fixing a broken family because he helped mend that long ago. All that was left for him to do was to figure out who he was outside of all that. To continue to grow and change and live his life.

And no matter what he did, no matter how isolated he felt, and no matter how far away they were or mature they got, he would always have his family and his friends.

A small knock on the door sounded before Connie peaked her head in.

"Hey," she said as she stepped inside. "My mom's not happy about it, but she's letting me stay over. With Pearl's supervision," she added, with an eye roll.

Steven chuckled and patted the pillows next to him. Connie walked over and sank down next to him.

"You okay?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Steven said. "Just thinking."

"About?"

Steven shook his head, but it wasn't him denying her question, but rather that he lacked the words to explain. Connie seemed to understand. She settled down next to him and didn't interrupt the silence.

"Before," he started, carefully. "I was so scared about hurting everyone and being the problem. I tried so hard to be like Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl for my entire childhood and when I finally was able to use my powers, I was so happy. I was finally a Crystal Gem."

"As the years went on, it was hard to deal with everything mom did, but I did it," he continued. "I thought it was all over, but then this new power showed up, and more information about how terrible of a person she was, and I turned into the problem."

Connie turned to look at him. "You thought you could fix it, just like you did with everything else," she guessed.

Steven nodded.

"And," Connie continued, "You were worried the gems would treat you like a powerless kid again?"

"Sort of," Steven said. "I was afraid they wouldn't want me around anymore. They don't need me like they used to, so why would they want to figure out whatever this is?"

Connie shook her head and poked Steven playfully. "Because they care about you! You don't need to be saving the galaxy for us to need you. I don't know what I would do if I lost my best friend."

Steven didn't answer. He felt shame burn in his chest and his eyes began to water as he processed her words. He had been so stupid. All of this could have been avoided if he hadn't been so afraid to just talk to his family. He could have lost them all because of his self-induced isolation, just like he lost himself.

Connie reached around and hugged him. She didn't need to see his face to know what he was thinking. Steven returned her hug and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm here for you," she whispered as she held him. "Now and always."

And Steven believed it. Together, they would face the future and breakthrough his vines of isolation. Together, they would build a new future.

He smiled and held her closer. "Now and always," he repeated.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

**Author's Note: That's it! I have two more plot bunnies bouncing around, so we'll see if I actually make anything of them. I hope you enjoyed it! March 6th for SUF's return! AHHHHHHHHH :D**


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